What Comes After
by jmostrash
Summary: (work title) SET AFTER JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM! Claire, Owen and Maisie trying to find their happy ending in midst of dinosaurs inhabiting the earth. I don't really know where this is headed but you're more than welcome to join the ride.
1. Prologue

_Prologue_

"We're here." The sound of the car door closing shut echoed through the inner yard of the apartment building and left a determined feeling in Claire's stomach as she spoke the words. She didn't know what was going to come, and that scared the hell out of her, but she stood in front of her old apartment building and the sense of familiarity helped calming her nerves a little. Soon enough she was joined by Maisie, who had taken matters into her own hands and climbed out of the jeep herself. The girl gasped, taking turns in looking from Claire to the skyscraper like house back to Claire. "Is all of that yours? It's huge! Like, it's bigger than grandpa's house, and that's impossible!" A throaty chuckle went through the driveway as Owen appeared behind the two of them, hugging Claire from behind and running his free hand through Maisie's hair. "No darling." He grinned down at her lovingly. "Claire only owns one of the many apartments in there." He emphasized the "many", dropping his voice and making it sound like a bear's grumble which made both Maisie and Claire giggle.

Claire was more than thankful he'd come with them after they'd left the destroyed mansion. As all of Maisie's legal custody holders had passed away, Claire hadn't even wasted a second and immediately decided to take the girl home with her, and after watching Blue leave she didn't have the intention on staying at that godawful place even a second longer. She'd grabbed the little kid's hand and ran towards a lonely, abandoned truck, the only one to still stand after a bunch of dinosaurs had ran all over the yard. Claire didn't know what exactly she'd expected Owen to do or not to do, but she figured she'd counted on him the second she'd started running towards the car – and then he'd sat next to her on the passenger seat, an unreadable expression on his face.

The redhead cleared her throat to get rid of the impending flashback of the last 48 hours. "Let's go home." She muttered, more to herself. She felt Owen's strong hands on her shoulder and it made her breathe in and out and look at everything from a certain distance. It made her feel safe enough to return to that four room apartment with the tasteful decoration, a big "Save The Dinosaurs" poster over her black leather couch and a double bed she'd only ever used one side of with the soft blanket. Back to normality it was. Or at least back to as much normality as you could have with fifty dinosaurs roaming around and your ex-boyfriend and a clone kid living together with you.

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 **A/N:**

 **This is the first longer project I'm working on and I think I have some kind of commitment issues with stories that have more than two chapters, but after watching JWFK I was so intrigued to write this I couldn't hold back. I actually have four handwritten pages but took to rewriting them as I'm really unsatisfied with most of what I wrote, so you have to be patient with me while I try and write a better version for you all. Reviews would be awesome!**


	2. Chapter 1

Claire stared down at Maisie snuggled up in a cotton blanket on her couch, the cartoons running on the tv in the background making the scene look even more domestic. The girl looked so peaceful in her deep slumber. With a heavy weight on her heart Claire thought about what this 10 years old kid had lost in the last 24 hours. Her grandpa, the man who's brought her up, the house she'd been living in ever since she was able to think, a save and known environment. She'd gotten robbed of all those things. It made the woman want to cry. This wasn't fair. The child in front of her had lost everything just because a few people had played god. She was all Maisie had, her and Owen. And if Owen didn't want to take the responsibility, if he wanted to go back to his house at the other side of the state, he could do that. In that second, in that moment of looking down on the sleeping girl, Claire knew she was going to protect her no matter what. She was going to live with her.

"Hey." Almost as if he'd heard her thinking, she felt Owen coming up behind her, his voice hushed so he wouldn't disturb their little guest. "Hey back." It felt good having him there. It felt right. But she didn't know if he felt the same way. That was the big problem. She didn't know about them. She didn't know if he wanted to stay or go or try and make this relationship thing between them work again or push back to being friends or nothing at all. Everything was so unsure, and it made her want to throw her hands over her head and cry out in frustration. There was a long silence between them, almost awkward. Finally, Claire couldn't stand it anymore. "We have to talk." She whispered, and it had sounded a lot more confident in her head than when she said it out loud. Owen nodded and slowly walked into the bed room, Claire following him. She closed the door behind her.

"Owen I-" She didn't get much further. His hot lips sealed on hers faster than she could even think, his strong hands pushing her back up against the door. She let out a surprised gasp, trying to break away from his lips. When he finally let her, she gulped for air. "What the hell?" Claire shoved her hands into his chest, clearly irritated. "We're not doing this. I wanted to _talk_!" But when she looked up at him she didn't see what she thought she would – she didn't see hunger or desire or arousal. The emotions displayed in his eyes were…deeper. Worry. Vulnerability. Fright. She felt his hand travel from her waist up to her chest and stop right above her heart. And suddenly, she knew what he was doing. She knew what he needed. He hadn't said a word, but his look was a silent plea. Her eyes widened and her voice almost broke as she cupped his face with both hands. "It's okay. I'm here. I'm alive." For a second it was quiet. Neither of them moved or spoke, it was just two lost people trying to hold onto each other for the sake of finding themselves again. Unspoken words passed between them, it was as if they were communicating without talking. "I need to feel it." Owen breathed hoarsely, finally saying it out loud. It was exactly what Claire wanted. She reached up, thumbs caressing his cheek, and kissed him with all the feelings she didn't know how to tell him she had. Soon enough stifled moans and groans filled the room, hands roaming over bodies, feeling how alive they were. It wasn't sweet, slow love making. It was all but that. It was passionate, fast, even aggressive at some point. It was letting go of the fear of losing the other one. They were there. They were alive. They still had each other. Even if the world was going to go down, even if the dinosaurs were going to take back what once had been theirs, Owen and Claire would be experiencing it together. It was all that mattered in that moment.

The neon green numbers on the alarm clock jumped at Claire as she lay in Owen's arms, their legs entangled, her head on his chest. The man next to her was sound asleep, his soft snores filling the room. Three in the morning. Yet she couldn't sleep. She should be exhausted, worn out from what had happened the last two days and their previous activity, but she just couldn't fall asleep. There were too many things on her mind. Worrying about what was to come had become a problem for her lately. First it had been the question about what the hell she should do after Jurassic World had gone down so famously disastrous. Then it had been about wether or not the government would decide to give the dinosaurs on an exploding island a second chance to live. Now it was her entire life that was inevitably going to change, and she didn't even know what her relationship with Owen was, if it even was a relationship. She realized she didn't know what part of that she was most afraid of.

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 **A/N:**

 **I'm sorry for how short this chapter got but I feel like this was the only appropriate point to stop writing, anything else would've taken away from the emotional aspect of it. I also have to get into this story a little bit more, so I'm asking you once again to be patient with me while I figure things out. Thanks for the favorites and reviews I got, it really keeps me going :)**


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